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April 20, 2016

New charges for Ayatollah Boroujerdi after eleven years of imprisonment without leave

HRANA- It’s been said that a new case has been opened for Ayatollah
Seyyed Hossein Boroujerdi, who is a prisoner of conscience and a
patient in Evin Prison and has been kept for eleven years without medical care
and not even a day off, he is interned in a special section for clergy in Evin
prison.

According to HRA, news organization of Human Rights Activists in
Iran, Ayatollah Boroujerdi was arrested in 1385 and was sentenced to 11 years
imprisonment and confiscation of property, and is now facing various diseases;
there is no medical care in ward 325-A, SCC of Evin prison.

A person close to Ayatollah Boroujerdi announced the news to
reporters of HRA in an interview and also said: “Recently he has been summoned
to court and was told that a new case of heresy was opened against him.
Ayatollah Boroujerdi responded that he does not accept any of these charges and
refused to participate in any court. These are all oral conversations and he
received no written warrant.”

He also explained the medical condition of Mr. Boroujerdi and
added: “Mr. Boroujerdi faces physical problems such as heart disease, followed
by lung embolism and respiratory problems, kidney stones and kidney pain, for
which no medication is provided. He also suffers from shaking hands, a symptom
that we do not know the reason but it is something like Parkinson's disease.
His feet are swollen and very painful to the extent that in some cases he is
not able to walk and he says that the pain is like stabbing his feet with a
knife. He also suffered digestion problems as a result of prison food. This is
such that Mr. Boroujerdi said it seems they put something in my food.”

The source associated with Mr. Boroujerdi mentioned about Mr.
Boroujerdi’s medical treatment for his disease and the treatment process:
"he was only examined once in Yazd. After repeatedly being transferred to
the prison clinic, the clinic doctor admitted that he has to be taken out for
treatment, but the prison officials said they do not have his medical file,
therefore they cannot send him to a hospital outside the prison.”

The source also said about the presence of a lawyer in the legal
process of Boroujerdi’s case: “"Ayatollah Boroujerdi has never had a
lawyer, in the beginning his family were told to pay a huge amount of money for
a lawyer, although pa ublic defender is free and such a request was illegal.
Mr. Boroujerdi wanted the lawyer of his choice who was not accepted. Although a
Ms. Poorfazel several times was consulted in both Tehran and Yazd as a lawyer,
she could not obtain access to the case file.”

He added: "Recently, they transferred a prisoner as a
cellmate who has contagious tuberculosis. The clergy section is not crowded,
and it is not a necessary action to keep this person with contagious disease in
the same room with Mr. Boroujerdi. Despite his complaining and demanding prison
authorities separate him from this person, no action was taken.”

The source close to Ayatollah Boroujerdi said at the end: “We're
concerned about his health. With these explanations, lack of health care, the
cellmate with infectious disease, it seems that the government has the
intention to kill him. We demand that the authorities prove that he is in good
health condition or give him leave for treatment. At the last meeting with the
family, Ayatollah Boroujerdi came to meet his family with the help of four
people and did not have the ability to walk.”

Ayatollah Boroujerdi was arrested and detained in the years
1374, 1379 and 1384, last time in 1385 was sentenced to 11 years in prison and
confiscation of property.

He spent a year in Yazd prison, and then was transferred to Evin
prison